Last Shift

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 6 October 2015 (Netflix Release)
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Staring:  Anthony DiBlasi, Joshua Mikel, J. LaRose
Rating? R
SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS
IMDB: 5.7 of 10
MY RATING: 6

STORYLINE

From director Anthony DiBlasi comes a Manson inspired horror film centering around a transitioning police station. Officer Jessica Loren has been assigned to wait for a Hazmat team to pick up bio-hazardous waste from the station's armory. But unbeknownst to Jessica, cult Leader John Michael Paymon has haunted the department ever since he and two of this followers committed suicide a year ago to date. And now, Jessica is about to find out how dangerous they can be when she's left alone on this Last Shift.

MY REVIEW:

I have always loved a good horror movie that was low budget, competent and surprising. This fit the bill with a few minor issues for me, but it was a solid average horror flick.

The main character, Jessica, played by Juliana Harkavy, was pure gold. She deserves a medal for her perseverance.  If I were her, i would have abandoned my post almost immediately upon the first sights and sounds. Despite all of the noises, sights and sounds she remains steadfast and holds her post. I wondered if she thought failure at this would mean failure to her deceased cop father.  She holds the sometimes flimsy movie together in a very convincing way.

It was definitely creepy and the jump scares were few, which I liked. The intensity was created by minimal special effects and the sense that she was all alone with no one to save her. She just has to stay there in the creepy abandoned police station until the morning. That is not something that seems difficult but in this movie, it is. 

Yes, it was low-budget and only has one set, which they do make good use of the loneliness. One of the pieces that does make my rating lower, is the use and occasional overuse of the typical horror movie scared. Ot was slow to resolve, but the story did eventually resolve it self. The second piece that gets me is the overuse of the paranormal in horror and scary movies. Come one, let's use something that is really scary, like the creepy guy next door!!

Third and final thing that set the rating to a 6 instead of a 7 was the weird tramp that showed up and really served no purpose.

Unfortunately, the end ruined it all again. Uninspired and in terms of originality certainly not of the same level as the rest of the movie. The rest was certainly of a high level. Both the structure of the story, the sound effects and the editing were excellent in this psychological terror film